I Am In South Korea!

Written 3 hours ago:

I am currently sitting at my gate in the Incheon-Seoul International Airport, in South Korea. It's a huge airport, and with all the shops it has, I'm sure it would be a happening place if it wasn't 4:40AM here. Unfortunately, they're all closed now. Haha.
Oh goodness, today has been a wild adventure. So I met my group at the Salt Lake International Airport, and we chatted for a while. Then we boarded our flight to LAX; I had an aisle seat, which was better than a middle seat. It was a Boeing 757 and completely packed. I sat by Emily and Maren: Emily is 22 and Maren is 19. We had fun getting to know each other--though Maren is the girl with whom I stayed in Salt Lake the night before, and I already adored her. We left Salt Lake City at 8:45, right as the sun was setting behind the mountains. I've never seen such an incredible sunset: it was a mixture of fiery red and neon orange and black. It honestly appeared as if we were flying above a sea of red fire. The flight to LAX was about an hour and forty five minutes, but 15 minutes of that of flying over the sea of lights that is LA. LA spread out endlessly, proof that it is one of the largest cities in the USA.
Stepping out into LAX, I was bombarded by clouds—countless random walls with clouds on them, separating the cramped room with a low ceiling into lounges and airline gates. We were directed down winding hallways (still with low ceilings) that smelled of something like mold, and down staircases—not descending escalators, but actual flights of stairs. What with my heavy carry on and personal bag, I couldn’t believe that such a popular airport would be so inaccessible. My stomach sunk with a premonition that would soon prove itself.

Trying to stay together in the crowded hallways, my group fortunately made it onto our shuttle that would take us to the Korean Air gate. As I stepped outside, I literally choked on the smog. I could taste the pollution in the air, and I thought, “I could never live in a big city.” The traffic in the terminal was bad enough—I could hardly imagine what the traffic in the actual city must be like.

We checked in at Korean Airlines and received our boarding passes for Korea and Weihai. Proceeding to security, we were rushed into the congested lines by security officers. As I waited, I pulled out my laptop and liquids and then put them on the conveyor belt. As I stepped through security, I was told to wait for female assistance because I was wearing a maxi dress—a casual floor length dress—not because I had beeped. It took several minutes for them to locate a female security guard who could pat me down. After I had been patted down, the male officer told me that there was water in my reusable, stainless steel water bottle, and he would have to escort me out so I could dump out its contents before going through security again or he would confiscate it. (I had forgotten about the water in my bottle in the confusion of security.) I chose to be escorted out because my water bottle is very useful when I travel. After I poured out my water, the officer let me back in and to the front of the line, which was kind of him. However, after I walked through the scanner again, I had to be patted down another time. I was running out of time before I had to be at my gate, and I grew nervous.

When I was finally able to return to my group and my luggage, I discovered that security had broken the zipper on my carry on and it no longer closed—which meant I had to carry it from security to my gate to keep its contents from exploding out. I was also nervous that the airline would not allow me to travel with an open bag, and I couldn’t find anywhere that sold suitcases. (And yes, I cried a little; it was so frustrating, plus I was already nervous, plus I was going on six hours of sleep.) However, I asked a flight attendant and he assured me it would be okay, and even provided me with tape to wrap around my suitcase so it would stay closed. It’s quite a sight now.

It came time to board our 747, and the flight attendants on board told me where to go—in Korean. I did my best to follow their hand motions. I’m sure they spoke English, so I’m not sure why they would direct me places in Korean. I eventually found my seat, but there was no overhead room for my carry on by my seat, so I had to take it to the rear of the plane. My seat was in the middle of the middle aisle (there were three seats on the edges and four in the middle), but I had my own TV, headset, blanket, and pillow provided for me, and they perked me up quite a bit. I was just happy to be sitting down and settled in! My group was very understanding and helped me laugh at myself, which was what I needed. All this has just been my luck and in the end, I wasn’t surprised it had all happened to me. Haha.

We flew out of LAX at 11:50PM California time. Ahead of us was a 10 and a half hour flight. I spent it sleeping in awkward positions and watching Thor, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Rio. Kung Fu Panda and Rio were hilarious and well made, but Thor was only so so, in my opinion. There was also an option to listen to music so I listened to Train and Adam Lambert and Andy Grammer while I wrote in my journal. I hoped the Korean people on both sides of me only understood spoken English, not written. The woman to my left was very nice, and spoke good English. She was off to visit her mother in Korea.

About an hour into our flight, they fed us dinner. I had the option of some Korean dish, beef, or chicken. I chose chicken; I was tempted to try Korean, but the people around me were eating it and it looked very unappetizing, so I decided against it. An hour before landing, we were served breakfast. Mine was a Danish-like roll, yogurt, fruit, and a muffin. I’ve never had real meals on flights and so this was an interesting experience.

Although it was dark and I probably wouldn’t have been able to see anything if I had a window seat, I had hoped I would be able to look out the window at the ocean as we flew over. I do have a window seat to Weihai, so that should be exciting!

When we arrived at the Incheon-Seoul International airport, it was 4:26 Korean time, on August 27. I believe it’s either 12 or 16 hours ahead of MST (Mountain Standard Time) here; in Weihai it will be 14 hours ahead of MST.

Since I began this email, my group moved from our gate to the lounge, since we have a ten hour layover in Incheon. My flight for Weihai leaves at 2:45PM Korean time, and it’s 5:51AM now! It’s so weird to think that everyone back home is having a nice evening. Yesterday. Enjoy the 26th while you can! Flying cars still haven’t been invented by the 27th; believe me, I’d know. Hahaha.

I love everyone in my group. They are all so funny and kind and, as yet, we get along well. I always think the best way to make friends is to get all the grimy stuff done first—let them see you stinky and dog tired, and if they still love you and want to be around you, they’re keepers. Things seem to be looking up. Haha.

I ate breakfast at a Korean cafe called Ben & T: I had "noodles with a skewered dish." It had thick, long noodles in a broth with dumplings, a bread type thing, and a small slice of fish on a skewer. The dumplings tasted fishy--like seafood. I also had a small bowl of soy sauce for dipping and this strange orange thing-it looked like a slice of fruit but tasted awful, like gasoline. I asked a waiter what it was but he didn't know its name in English. I had to eat it all with chopsticks, which made the experience that much more awesome. I paid with Korean currency, having just exchanged a few dollars. I was surrounded by Koreans, all speaking Korean, eating Korean food, and I'm in Korea. I was euphoric; it was the coolest experience ever. I also bought some Korean chocolate. It's really nothing fancy, but it's chocolate! I plan on keeping some Korean currency as souvenirs, especially since the only things you can buy at the airport besides food are Versaci scarves and Bvlgari bags, for nothing less than a couple hundred US dollars each.

I'm content with cool coins.

I’m so close to my final destination! I can’t believe I’m in KOREA, and soon I’ll be in China. It’s mind boggling!